'The Last of Us' Hands-On Reveals A Grown-Up Experience

My time with a preview of The Last of Us was not entirely what I expected. I knew that this was Naughty Dog taking their Uncharted engine and storytelling prowess into more mature territory, but I hadn’t expected the experience to feel so different.

In one section you walk into a wooded space and Ellie remarks at its beauty, “I’ve never seen anything like this before, to walk through the woods, it’s kinda cool.” And indeed, as you walk Joel through the space it’s hard not to stop to take in the level of detail and care that has gone into making this one area of the game.

Even leaving aside the lifelike textures, lens-flare and graphical fidelity it’s a space, like many I encountered in The Last of Us, that used its landscape to tell a story. The presence of wildlife here, and in one moment you disturb a swan and see it fly away, only serves to underline the absence of human life — be that other people, architecture or vehicles. This is a world being slowly abandoned, ravaged by two decades of the cordyceps-fungus.

It’s a sad and quiet place with many long periods of game play without the expected shooting, brawling and brutal killing. Signs of evacuation, or warnings sent out to citizens, are found all over and like the emptiness speak of humanity’s failure to cope with the disease. “Man, must be hard just leaving all your stuff like that” is Ellie’s response. “This is kind of sad, all this music that’s just sitting here and no one’s around to listen to it.”

The Last of Us Concept Art

Entering the games various buildings and enclosed smaller spaces, the experience takes another turn. Scavenging for weapons and food adds to the sense of your ever depleting chances of survival. This attention to ammo management and the ability to combine equipment in different ways lends The Last of Us more of a role play edge than Uncharted and in some ways felt not dissimilar to Tomb Raider’s recent success with weapon enhancements.

There are still clear signs of the Uncharted team here though, and not just in the exquisite fabrics and materials used to dress both the characters and the world. Joel shares with Nate that recent habit of touching the walls, door frames, upholstery and soft furnishings, albeit slightly toned down. The third person movement and navigation is also familiar, but returning with a more brutal edge so that melee combat is less Saturday Night Matinee and more Cohen Brothers.

It’s here, rather than in the shooting, exploration and fighting mechanics, that The Last of Us will stand or fall for grownup gamers. Can it live up to its mature rating in more than just the violence?

The look and feel of the game and the dialogue I’ve heard so far certainly conjures the same world in my mind as when I read Cormac McCarthy. His books, which often live in the sort of desolate and violence spaces we play our video games in, slowly build narratives almost without the reader realizing it. However, I came away from No Country for Old Men and The Road with more than sadness and revulsion at the violence. Both these books say something substantial about what it means to be human, something uplifting in spite of the setting.

The Last of Us directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley have focused much of this freight on the shoulders of Ellie (Ashley Johnson), the young girl, who you as Joel (Troy Baker) develop a father-daughter friendship with.

The Last of Us Concept Art

In the preview it has been Ellie who carried the story forward. Whether on hand to comment on the surroundings from the perspective of a young (14 year old) girl or to offer expletives in response to Joel’s violent actions, Ellie brings an unusual character into this sort of game — not least by being substantially younger than the people likely to play it.

In this way Ellie is reminiscent of Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite. Spending this amount of time with a non-player character in a game creates, when successful, a bond and understanding greater than I’ve found when reading a book. Although Ellie seems more scripted than Elizabeth’s free roaming intelligence, Naughty Dog’s decision to capture motion and sound at the same time and from the same actor seems to create a more believable performance.

This works just as well when Ellie is not in shot. Times creeping through deserted buildings, with Joel’s silhouette outlined in the torchlight, are all the more tense with the awareness that our young companion is somewhere behind us in need of protection.

This is further intensified by tiny tweaks to combat. When enemies shout or make a noise you can see their outline for a time. Taking shots knocks Joel back much more than Nate’s fly-swatting flinches.

Because of all this the combat has a much more strategic feel to it. While The Last of Us is certainly more violent than Uncharted, it promises to work not only by being gratuitous but by treating that violence with respect. Each and every kill feels like a distinct decision — as opposed to another indiscriminate notch on the belt. It’s something that Jacob Minkoff, lead designer on The Last of Us discussed at E3 with me:

Cutting through all this is that father-daughter relationship. Hearing Joel tell Ellie to “Slow down, wait for me” reminds me of journeys with my own children on foot, bikes or scooters. Ellie’s sarcastic responses underline this, as she at times impersonates her new-found guardian, or tries to shrug off the disturbing events in that way that children do.

Before this The Last of Us preview I was a little concerned it would be a step too far for me, too violent to be enjoyed. Now, though, I’m as excited as ever to play it and engage with the interesting characters, storyline and world.

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It’s really too bad that this is going to be a Playstation exclusive title. It’s one game that actually excites me and makes me truly want to play it as it appears to be a breath of fresh air and something that gamers can really appreciate as a work of fiction, story telling, thrilling gameplay and awe with regards to the beauty of its design. I have no doubt that this game will be successful, but Naughty Dog is truly limiting the potential of this game by limiting it to the Playstation system.

That’s an ignorant thing to say. Is Halo limited because it’s on Xbox? Nope. Playstation has many great exclusives that were never limited or hindered because of their platform exclusivity. Because they are spectacular games.

“Breath of fresh air” is a good way to describe many Playstation exclusives, from Flower, to Starhawk, to Heavy Rain. Because that’s the sort of experience that Sony has cultivated on the platform. It’s a good thing. Those who are more into a Halo and sports sort of experience can get one system, and those who are more into this sort of experience can go with Playstation.